Canadian killed in Afghanistan, brings toll to 82

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - A Canadian soldier
was killed in Afghanistan on Friday a day after Canada won
reinforcement for its troops in the NATO-led force there, the
military said.

The fatality brings Canada's military death toll in
Afghanistan to 82.

The soldier's armored vehicle hit an explosive device in
the Panjwayi district of southern Afghanistan and was declared
dead at a military hospital in Kandahar, according to the
Department of National Defense.

Canada had threatened to pull its forces out of Afghanistan
in 2009 unless it received more support from other NATO
countries in the Kandahar region, where its forces have been
locked in combat with Taliban insurgents.

Canada said Thursday its troops will now stay until 2011
after France pledged to send 700 more troops to eastern
Afghanistan in a move that will allow U.S. forces to be
redeployed to Kandahar.